Evidence of the role of models in the teaching/learning process in science education is well documented in literature. A crucial role in this process is played by teachers. It is therefore important to design teacher education intervention focused on models and modelling. Although recognized as important by many authors, few attempts have been carried out and with a limited success. This paper reports of a three‐year‐long study whose aims can be summarized as follows: to investigate the knowledge of scientific models and modelling of physics, mathematics, and engineering prospective teachers; to explore the effectiveness of a research‐based teacher education intervention aimed at improving knowledge about scientific models and modelling; to inspect the effects of a refinement process of the intervention based on a design–trial–redesign cycle. About 400 prospective teachers from two Italian universities were involved in the study. The results show that the knowledge about models and modelling of prospective teachers after the four‐ or five‐year degree diploma is still rather poor and confused. On the other hand, the implementation results support the effectiveness of the designed intervention and of the refinement process. Implications which may give a contribution to more general research problems related to models and modelling in science education are also discussed.

This study examined the relationships between first-year university students’ academic motivation, retrospective evaluation of school experiences, subjective well-being, engagement and intention to drop out. Self-determination theory, the SInAPSi model of academic engagement, the hedonic approach, and the retrospective judgment process were used to frame the study. A final sample of 565 first-year Italian students enrolled in Science-Technology-Engineering-Mathematics (STEM) courses (Biology, Biotechnologies, Chemistry, Computer Science, Physics, Mathematics) was included. Three mediation models based on structural equations were tested to analyse the relationships between the proposed variables: motivation as an antecedent of dropout intention with only commitment as a mediator (model 1); model 1 + subjective well-being as a second mediator (model 2); model 2 + retrospective judgement as an antecedent (model 3). The results showed that in all models the more autonomous motivational styles predicted students’ engagement, which in turn directly and indirectly influenced their intention to drop out. In model 2, subjective well-being acted as a mediator of the relationships between motivation, engagement and dropout intentions. In model 3, we found that subjective well-being also fully mediated the relationships between retrospective judgement and engagement. Overall, our findings provide new insights into the mechanisms underlying student engagement and dropout at university and may inform university policy.

We surveyed a convenience sample of 362 Italian university physics students, asking them to retrospectively assess their experience of emergency remote instruction due to the COVID-19 outbreak. We looked at their psychological well being, motivation for physics, academic orientation, attitude towards physics and physicists, and tried to link these factors to their overall perception of the online instruction. Our results show a general appreciation for the organization and effectiveness of online courses. However, online teaching negatively impacted on engagement and interaction between peers and with the instructors. Only 22% of students in our sample complained of the psychological distress due to remote instruction. Nonetheless, we found a significant decrease in motivational dimensions, such as interest and recognition. Emergency remote instruction also challenged the students’ self-regulation, self-efficacy, and engagement. Finally, the uncertainty about the future resulted in a more pessimistic attitude towards physics, academic performance, and job perspectives.

Stimulated by the European project “QTEdu CSA”, within the flagship “Quantum Technologies”, a community of researchers active in the fields of quantum technologies and physics education has designed and implemented an extracurricular course on quantum physics concepts and quantum technologies applications for high school. The course, which featured eight interactive lectures, was organized online between March and May 2021 and attended by about 250 students from all over Italy. In this paper, we describe the main tenets and activities of the course. Moreover, we report on the effectiveness of the course on students’ knowledge of the basic concepts of quantum physics and students’ views about epistemic aspects and applications of quantum technologies. Results show that the designed activities were effective in improving students’ knowledge about fundamental aspects of quantum mechanics and familiarizing them with quantum technology applications.

Graphs of real-time experiments are useful tools in science education; their intrinsic features allow innovative didactic approaches. The use of such images is spreading and is likely to become common classroom practice. This paper describes a study in which secondary school students were called upon to read and interpret documents containing images of real-time kinematics graphs specially designed to address common learning problems and to minimize iconic difficulties. Both novice students and those with a little experience of real-time experiments were involved. The overall didactic intentions of the presented documents were fulfilled. Some reading difficulties related to specific features were detected and are discussed. Suggestions are made regarding the acquisition of some specific capabilities that are needed to avoid misinterpreting these images and are of transversal value across several contexts. Finally, some implications for teacher training and class activities are discussed.

We present the design, statistical analysis, and validation of a questionnaire to assess students’ knowledge about basic aspects of quantum mechanics (QM). The QM evaluation (QME) is a true-false and multiple-choice mixed questionnaire that features 10 two-tier items spanning three relevant themes in quantum mechanics: wave behavior of matter, measurement, and atoms and electrons behavior. Its validity was assessed through a pilot administration to students and interviews with course instructors. We checked its internal consistency using both classic test theory and Rasch analysis to account for the different difficulty of each tier and for different scoring methods of the items. The questionnaire was administered to about 450 undergraduate physics students and high school physics teachers. Data show that it is a reliable instrument and all items have a good discriminatory power. Since the test does not require an advanced mathematical knowledge, it ideally lends itself to probe students’ knowledge about quantum mechanics in a variety of university courses, from the introductory ones to those more formal and mathematically oriented.